Indie retailers suffering as thieves target popular collectable plush
The Jellycat craze is leading thieves to become ever more audacious with the latest news of a £20,000 ramraid at The Gorge Bear Company and a shoplifting spree at a trio of nearby independent stores.
The shocking CCTV footage below shows two people scoping out The Gorge Bear Company in Cheddar in the early hours, followed by using a wooden post on the front of a car to smash open the door before a thief gets inside to steal over 300 Jellycat models along with 10 Charlie Bear products.
Only the previous day, Saturday, 29 March, Kondi Gifts in Bristol lost a significant number of Jellycat plush products to two brazen shoplifters, and Soukous Gifts, also in the city, was targeted in recent weeks too along with another indie store, and it’s thought these items end up being sold through online platforms such as eBay and Vinted.
With the number of greeting card and gift stores selling the ever-popular toys, the thefts are extremely concerning, particularly with the rise in shoplifting which the government’s Crime & Policing Bill, currently being debated by parliament, is designed to stop as current laws give less priority to shopping theft where the is under £200 – the new bill includes over 50 measures, including stricter penalties for the shoplifting of items worth under £200 as well as a new offence of assaulting a shop worker.
Elaine Moodie, who runs The Gorge and World Of Bears in Taunton, told PG Buzz: “We are being strong, for the bears, staff and customers. We’re overwhelmed by the support, and being supported by both Jellycat and Charlie Bears, and picking up the pieces – this stock cannot be replaced as we are allocated stock.
“I do think the third-party platforms need to do more, as too many private sellers with some having 3,000+ listings. Unfortunately, these platforms are where they will appear as folk want to make a quick buck – lines that have only been in shops for a week appear on them, at RRP, so they’re either fake or stolen as no authorised Jellycat stockist is on third party platforms. It’s so saddening.”
The thieves struck at Elaine’s store around 4.40am on 30 March, using a silver Renault Twingo to batter down the door. Avon & Somerset Police have launched an investigation, asking people to contact them if they see a quantity of the toys for sale online or at car boots. The crime reference is 5225090991.
Within hours The Gorge had managed to secure the premises, arrange a structural survey and start looking at replacement store front, and reopened back to normal hours.
Injecting some humour into a difficult situation, Elaine – known as Head Bear – has been running social media posts which say: “These cuddles are scared at the moment and need your help so they are rehomed by us to loving families,” and how one lonely toy left behind is coping: “Timmy Turtle has settled in well at home and has made some new friends.”
At Kondi Gifts, co-director Sandy Wilson had posted CCTV images of the shoplifting incident on social media, saying: “Unfortunately, like a growing number of small businesses, we were the victims of crime. These 2 selfish ******s helped themselves to a large amount of our Jellycat.”
All evidence was passed to the police and, in an update at the weekend which can be seen below, Sandy thanked the local community for their support, adding that two people are now in custody.
These latest incidents come off the back of a woman in Norfolk getting a suspended prison sentence in February for seven thefts last summer from garden centres in Bressingham, Wroxham and Thetford.
And back in December Groves Charlie Groves, who runs Groves Garden Centre in Bridport, tracked down the culprit behind the theft of around £400 worth of Jellycat products.
CCTV footage shows a woman hiding the toys in a pram with a child in it, and leaving without paying – but clues on the tapes including her personalised number plate led Charlie to locate her on social media and found that the stolen goods were being sold through an account on the Vinted resale site run by the partner of the person to whom that vehicle was registered in the Bristol area.
